Zirconia and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin films were successfully synthesized on a variety of substrates by microwave plasma CVD process, using beta-diketone chelates as volatile sources. The ZrO2 films contain monoclinic and tetragonal phases. In YSZ films, when Y2O3 content was less than 7 mol%, two phases were observed, namely cubic and monoclinic zirconia. When the Y2O3 content was >7 mol%, the film only had a cubic phase. TEM observation and XRD anal. showed that the ZrO2 and YSZ films consist of nanoscale crystallites of size ~10 nm. XPS anal. revealed that the Zr3d5/2 and Zr3d3/2 binding energies were lower than the standard values.

Key words: X-RAY DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS, ZIRCONIUM OXIDE, THIN FILMS, X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROMETRY, PLASMAS, YTTRIUM OXIDE, FUEL CELLS, VAPOR PHASE DEPOSITION